60 Years Ago at P.S. 29

The author, Nia Lawrence, a PS 29 fifth grader with Vivian Tarazi, a PS 29 alum from the class of 1958.

By Nia Lawrence (5-527)

Have you ever wondered what is was like at P. S. 29 sixty years ago?

Well, I was recently shopping with my mother in the famous Sahadi’s food store on Atlantic Avenue. A person who worked there asked me what school I go to. I answered P.S. 29. She got all excited and she said she went to P.S. 29 sixty years ago!

When we left the store I decided to go back another day and interview her about what our school was like back then. What the classes were like, what teachers were there, what the school lunch was like? Think about it: it’s 2018 now and sixty years ago was 1958! Did they even have activities?

Her name was Vivian Tarazi. I asked her a ton of questions and she answered most of them. First, I asked her what subjects she studied and what teachers she remembered. She said, “we had art, music, gym, LML, and I had Mrs. Ruskins for sixth grade.” They had 6th grade!! She didn’t remember any other any favorite teachers. Here’s something interesting she said that you wouldn’t hear today: “the school lunch was delicious.” I asked her how many kids were in each class. She said she thinks about “20 to 25,” which is fewer than we have currently. My class, 5-527, has 27 kids. I also asked her if there was detention. “There was detention, and they had to call your mom and dad to pick you up.” The game that was most popular during recess was Ringolevio. This game, invented in New York City, is basically a combination of hide and seek and tag. They also went on very few field trips and when they did they only went to the park. She said she loved art and her favorite thing to do at recess was to hang out with her best friends.